Spanish state television drops bullfighting as too violent for children

Spain's state-run broadcaster has banned the televising of bullfights
to protect children.

Radiotelevision
Espanola (RTVE) has pledged not to show bullfighting on its channels given
that the evening corridas usually occur during peak viewing times for
children.

In its latest style book, presented to the parliamentary commission that
oversees its mandate, the organisation puts bullfighting under the chapter
"violence with animals", a controversial listing given the tradition
in Spain.

Live broadcasts of the top bullfights were dropped from the schedule
by RTVE in 2007 – 51 years after it launched with a bullfight –
when the organisation claimed it could not always afford to buy broadcasting
rights.

At the time, executives said they had "nothing against bullfighting"
but had simply made a commercial decision.

But the admission that the spectacle is too cruel or violent for viewing
by children has given hope to campaigners that a countrywide ban is within
reach.

Last July Catalonia became the first region within mainland Spain to
outlaw what is known as the National Fiesta. But supporters of bullfighting
slammed RTVE's decision, labelling it a "hypocrisy" driven by
political motives.

"There are those in education who deny that bullfighting on television
even causes any distress to children," argued Inigo Fraile, head
of the Union of Toreros. "It seems hypocritical because the same
criterion is not applied to other content. There are many more violent
scenes, not just to animals but to people, shown in movies and television
series broadcast on public channels."